First, the blurb says that Gabriel is a "Cynical rake", which led me to expect more scenes that had him grappling with his feelings, or perhaps him being confused by his feelings of love. But, nope. He just jumped right into his marriage with both feet, very abruptly enamoured with Pandora.

The romance in this novel was a bit too swift for my liking. Honestly, I felt like this romance (and, really, the novel) ended when they got married. The second half of the novel was basically a lead-in to the next book, like a *really* long epilogue. I wish that there'd been more tension between the h&h; not necessarily a conflict, but more sexual tension to keep things interesting.

For a man with "certain tastes" when it came to bed sport, I really expected more heated love scenes, but this felt very tame. Disturbingly, Gabriel treated Pandora like a child, being overly gentle and affectionate, when in this particular novel, with their particular personalities, good "bodice-ripping" love scenes would have been vastly preferable. I hate to say it, but this was a real let-down.

The reason that I'm giving this three stars, instead of two, is because Lisa Kleypas has a wonderful way with words, her descriptions were superb, and the characters (individually) were lovely.

This was a quick, enjoyable read with sweet romance and a happy ending. It was precisely what one would want out of a novelette! I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

The characters were lovely: Will, the sexy Scotsman on the rowing team was the perfect match for Evie, and I've got to say that I have a soft spot in my heart for guys eager for a committed relationship. They were a seriously charming couple.